Men's Golf Advances to NCAA Championships

May 16, 2015

Championship Central \| Live Scoring Final Results \| Photos

Team		Rounds				Score
		1	2	3	F
1.	#2 Texas	273	282	275	830	-22
2.	#9 Texas Tech	278	274	282	834	-18
3.	#48 Duke	276	282	286	844	-8
4.	#13 Auburn	280	285	280	845	-7
5.	#35 Houston beat Purdue in 1-hole playoff	274	287	286	847	-5
6.	Purdue	279	289	279	847	-5
7.	#26 California	279	287	282	848	-4
8.	#38 Louisville	283	281	288	852	E
9.	Southeastern Louisiana	285	279	292	856	+4
10.	UC Irvine	287	291	287	865	+13
11.	#23 North Florida	291	292	287	870	+18
12.	Georgia State	287	284	300	871	+19
13.	Charleston Southern	286	309	295	890	+38

HOUSTON LEADERS
		1	2	3	F
T1.	Blair Hamilton	68	69	68	205	-8
T22.	Vincent Martino	70	72	71	213	E
T30.	Roman Robledo	70	73	71	214	+1
T33.	Kyle Pilgrim	66	73	76	215	+2
T64.	Alan De Bondt	75	78	77	230	+17

OVERALL LEADERS
		1	2	3	F
T1.	#78 Blair Hamilton Houston Co-Medalist	68	69	68	205	-8
T1.	#19 Clement Sordet Texas Tech Co-Medalist	67	69	69	205	-8
3.	#44 Gavin Hall Texas	69	69	68	206	-7
T4.	#84 K.K. Limbhasut California	66	68	74	208	-5
T4.	#45 Robin Sciot-Siegrist Louisville	71	67	70	208	-5
T4.	Beau Hossler Texas	66	72	70	208	-5

LUBBOCK, Texas - It took one hole longer than scheduled, but the University of Houston Men's Golf program earned a berth to the NCAA Championships after defeating Purdue in a 1-hole playoff on Saturday afternoon during the Final Round of the NCAA Lubbock Regional.

On the first playoff hole at No. 18 at The Rawls Course, senior Kyle Pilgrim tapped in a 5-foot birdie putt, and no Boilermaker was able to equal that score to give the Cougars their second straight NCAA Championships berth. It's the first time the Cougars have made consecutive NCAA Championships appearances since 2000-01.

"We continued our poor play from Friday's back nine to start and put ourselves behind the 8-ball early. We constantly preach to our guys to dig in their heels when things aren't going your way, and our guys did a good job of that," Director of Golf Jonathan Dismuke said. "We didn't have it going very well at any point during the day, and it didn't look all that promising, but we managed to make a couple of birdies coming in and get into the playoff."

Although his team posted a team score of 286 in Saturday's Final Round and struggled at times, Dismuke said he was impressed with his team's mental toughness late to force the playoff.

"Finishing the way that we did, we had a little bit of momentum, so our guys were in good spirits," Dismuke said. "We knew we didn't play very well the last 27 holes, but we gave ourselves a chance by getting into the playoff, so our guys had a good frame of mind. I felt good going into the playoff."

Individually, junior Blair Hamilton finished at 8-under-par 205 - thanks to a Final-Round 68 - to share medalist honors with 19th-ranked Clement Sordet of Texas Tech. With the Cougars trailing Purdue by a stroke late Saturday, the Burlington, Ontario, native tapped in a birdie on No. 17 and then parred his final hole before the playoff to push the Cougars into a tie with the Boilermakers.

Making his postseason debut, Hamilton became the first Cougar in NCAA Regional history to record three consecutive rounds in the 60s and joined with Brett Callas (2003 NCAA Central, Colbert Hills Country Club, Manhattan, Kan.) and Dean Larsson (1994 NCAA Central, Oklahoma City Country Club, Oklahoma City) as the only Cougars to win NCAA Regional individual titles.

Hamilton, who was named All-American Athletic Conference earlier this month, was steady throughout the Final Round to lead the Cougars. He opened with five straight pars off No. 1 and then made 3 on the par-5 ninth hole, coming just six feet short of a double eagle.

Fighting through his lone bogey of the day on the 10th hole to start his back nine, Hamilton rallied with six straight pars before his pivotal birdie on No. 17 moved the Cougars into a tie for fifth with Purdue.

"Blair has come a long way as a player, mentally, physically and emotionally. I can't say enough good things about him," Dismuke said. "I am so proud of what he is doing and what he has accomplished."

Junior Vincent Martino tied for 22nd with a score of 213 after shooting even-par 71 in the Final Round. Overcoming a double bogey on the second hole, Martino drained birdies on four of his next seven holes. Despite three bogeys through the first seven holes of the back nine, the Southlake, Texas, native gave the Cougars a key birdie on No. 17 to move the team closer to the playoff.

Senior All-American Roman Robledo, who became one of only five players in school history to compete in four NCAA Regionals during his career, equaled Martino with a 71 in Saturday's round and tied for 30th at 214. The Harlingen, Texas, native overcame a rough start that saw him bogey three of his first seven holes. However, he rallied with two birdies with nine pars on his final 11 holes.

Pilgrim fought to a 76 in the Final Round and tied for 33rd at 215 after tying an Houston NCAA Regional record with an opening-round 66. However, the Colleyville, Texas, native saved his best for last.

Teeing off in the first five-some in the playoff against Purdue, Pilgrim smacked his drive in the middle of the fairway and then laid up with a heavy wind blowing in his face. On his third shot, he stuck his approach within five feet of the flag and then tapped in for the lone birdie of the playoff.

"Kyle really struggled by his standards today, but for him to rebound and make a birdie in the playoff was huge," Director of Golf Jonathan Dismuke said. "The hole location was difficult to get close to, especially with the wind blowing 25 mph. For him to hit that shot with all that pressure was just outstanding."

Making his postseason debut, freshman Alan De Bondt tied for 71st at 230 but drained a 15-foot par putt in the playoff to make Pilgrim's birdie the margin of victory for the Cougars.

No. 2 Texas won the team championship with a score of 830 to finish four strokes ahead of host and ninth-ranked Texas Tech. No. 48 Duke (844) and No. 13 Auburn (845) joined Houston among the top-5 leaders and advanced to the NCAA Championships, scheduled for May 29-June 3 at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla.

Purdue (847), No. 26 California (848), No. 38 Louisville (852), Southeastern Louisiana (856), UC Irvine (865), No. 23 North Florida (870), Georgia State (871) and Charleston Southern (890) rounded out the field.

Louisville's Robin Sciot-Siegrist made a par on No. 18 to defeat California's K.K. Limbhasut in the first hole of a playoff and advanced to the NCAA Championships as an individual.

NCAA REGIONAL HISTORY
This marked the fourth straight season that the Cougars competed in an NCAA Regional. It was the first time since 1999-02 that the Cougars accomplished that feat.

Robledo became only the fifth player in program history to compete in four NCAA Regionals during his career, joining Anders Hansen, B.J. Staten, Andy Sanders and Dean Larsson. Pilgrim became only the 14th player with at least three NCAA Regional berths on his resume.

This also was the 18th NCAA Regional team appearance in the rich history of the Houston Men's Golf program. The Cougars can boast of one team championship (1998), three individual crowns (Blair Hamilton, 2015 co; Brett Callas, 2003; Larsson, 1994) and eight top-5 team finishes.

STAY CONNECTED
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Alan Bondt

Blair Hamilton

Vincent Martino

Kyle Pilgrim

Roman Robledo

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